Janet Lim Napoles…. Pork Queen or Scapegoat?

Janet Lim Napoles is not the only name that appears to be embroiled in the P10 Billion Pork Barrel Scam. Along with her name are the names of slew of congressmen, senators, and other government officials who stand accused of lining their pockets with pork barrel funds — some of which appear in the blog Dulz Speaks which published a supposed anonymous account of the pork barrel scam.

It’s funny that while Napoles is on the receiving end of a great amount of vilification, it doesn’t seem that enough people are training their guns on the elected and appointed officials who actually control the release of the pork barrel funds.

Some blogs have been portraying Napoles as the “pork queen”, but to me, she seems more like the scapegoat. Because of the accusations hurled against her, it seems Napoles is being made responsible for all the thieving and stealing that’s going on in government. And while this is happening, the supposed the congressmen and senators (who made all the thieving and stealing possible in the first place) are escaping blame and punishment.

If it is true that Napoles wealth originated from skimming off a percentage from the pork barrel funds of legislators, it would also be true that corrupt legislators lined their pockets with the larger portion of the stolen pork barrel funds. In that case, in my simple figuring of things, both the skimmer and the larger beneficiaries of the pork barrel scam as well as the government bureaucrats who released it should be punished together.

It occurs to me, at this point, that even if Napoles is driven out like a scapegoat, pork barrel corruption will still continue because it is entirely conceivable that corrupt legislators and various corrupt functionaries of government line agencies will find another person or create other organizations to continue their pork barrel corruption.

If the opportunity to steal from pork barrel funds is in direct proportional to its size, then the Aquino Administration’s pork barrel allocation a whole lot more opportunities for corruption — even more than the previous administration.

In 2010, towards the end of the Arroyo Administration’s term, pork barrel allocations hovered around P10 Billion. In the 2014 budget, according to Agham (from whom the graph on the left supposedly comes from), the Aquino Administration’s pork barrel fund allocation has swollen to THREE TIMES that of the 2010 pork barrel allocation!

While it is very clear na kailangan may experience yung non-government organizations, mayroon silang financial statement na examined ng isang certified public accountant, at mayroon silang financial capacity, nakita po namin sa review na hindi po ito napapatupad ng implementing agencies. (While it is very clear that these NGOs should have experience, a financial statement examined by a certified public accountant, and proof of financial capacity, we have seen in our review that these requirements are not being fulfilled.)

W: Kung hindi sila legitimate, papaano nakaka-release ng funds sa kanila? Papaano sila nachoo-choose in the first place? Hindi ba dapat may bidding yan? (If these NGOs are not legitimate, how is it possible that they’re able to get funds? Isn’t there supposed to be a bidding process?)

HM: Meron pong hindi nagbi-bidding, mayroong nagbi-bidding pero bidding-biddingan lamang. Mayroon ditong nagtuturuan lang eh. Minsan sasabihin ng legislator na hindi ako ang nag-identify ng NGO na yan, it’s the implementing agency. Pagtinanong mo ang implementing agency, ang sasabihin nito eh ‘dumating yung NGO may dala-dalang sulat galing kay congressman’. Babalikan namin ang congressman, sasabihin naman “Fake ang signature ko dyan, ginamit ako ng non government organization.” (There are cases where there is no bidding, there are cases where the bidding is rigged. There is a fair amount of buck passing. There are instances where the legislator denies he or she identified the NGO and he points to the implementing agency. When we ask the implementing agency, they turn around and say that the NGO presented a letter from a congressman. Then when we go back to the congressman, he says that his signature was forged.)

W: Sinasabi ng mga legislators na hindi sa kanila dumadaan ang funds, paano sila nakaka-kurakot? (Legislators say that the pork barrel funds do not pass through their offices, but how is it that they are able to plunder the funds?)

W: Sa tingin niyo, gaano kalaking porsyento ng PDAF ay nawawala sa irregularities? (In your view, how large of a percentage of the PDAF is lost due to irregularities?)

HM: Because of lack of documentation, hindi namin kaagad ma-conclude na may nangyari na kalokohan sa pondo. (Because of lack of documentation, we cannot immediately conclude that irregularities happened with the funds.)

W: Ay kung tatlong taon na eh walang liquidation, sasabihin na walang irregularity?! (Three years pass without the liquidation documents for the funds being submitted, and you’re saying that there are no irregularities?)

HM: Iyong nga ho eh…. Kung sasabihin na sa loob ng dalawang taon hindi pa nakakapag-submit ng liquidation documents, dito po namin masasabi na posibleng walang nangyari at posibleng napunta sa ibang proyekto. (That’s the thing… If in two years a liquidation report is not submitted, it is possible that nothing happened to the project and it’s possible that the money went to another project.)

W: Itong scam na supposedly by the Napoles group is only the soft part, papaano nangyari na P10 Billion ang nakuha? (The scam supposedly done by the Napoles group is only the soft part, how did the manage to get P10 Billion?)

HM: Una, dun sa sinasabi namin na hindi na-implement iyong rules and even the specific provisions of the memorandum of agreement. Ito iyong sinasabi naming sa soft, yung mga training for example may pinapakita sa report namin na may ghost training. For example, may nag-training daw ng farmers pero pag tinignan namin ang listahan, mukhang isa lang ang pumirma ng mga pangalan. (First, the rules weren’t implemented and even the specific provisions of the memorandum of agreement. This is what we are saying about the soft projects, in our report it is shown that ghost training projects happened. For example, there was supposed to be a farming training but when we looked at the list, it seems that only one person signed for all the names.)

Check out this post from Bel Cunanan’s blog… http://www.polbits.com/2013/08/to-secretary-alcala-dapat-agawin-mo-ang.html The President has shown inclination to quickly posted toabsolve or at least moderate the guilt of his allies in Congress and the Executive Branch, instead of recognizing the deep-seated and wide-spread scope of the pork barrel scam and being alarmed by it. When the involvement of Secretary Proceso Alcala’s Agriculture Department to the tune of nearly P90 million in Janet Napoles’ scheme first surfaced, P-Noy ordered Alcala and DBM Secretary Florencio Abad, whose office disburses ALL pork barrel requests from legislators, to explain their involvement. Now that the truth has come… Read more »

Heto pa! The Sandiganbayan has suspended the implementation of the arrest warrant against former Cebu Rep. Clavel Asas-Martinez, former Bogo Mayor Celestino Martinez III, Ma. Cielo Martinez and four others who are facing malversation and graft charges for the misuse of her pork barrel. Interestingly, the antigraft court ordered on July 31 the arrest of Lanao del Norte Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo in connection with another malversation case. Dimaporo is not a political ally of Aquino. In a resolution, also dated July 31, the antigraft court granted the request of Clavel to defer the implementation of the arrest warrants against the… Read more »

Once again there will be feast in the senate again because those panel members would have new source of millions extra income in this new P10 billion scam investigation. However, just like the Philippines TV soap shows, the plot would surely be the same. The victim whose life would be totally ruined would be that of the whistle blower Benhur K. Luy and whoever would be with him. Just like Lozada in the NBN-ZTE scandal, his life was totally destroyed while Gloria Arroyo is enjoying more pork being a congresswoman of the second district of Pampanga. Whatever happened to ex-justice… Read more »

after coal, property plastiics suddenly janet lim napoles says her wealth came from a 200 million peso inheritance – but she naturally wont say from whom!! haha And her daughters extravagant lifestyle was part of a college project!!! hehe Only filipinos would be stupid enough to believe their excuses which become crazier by the day, but since they believed pnoy aquino’s lies anything is possible. Her other porky pig daughter – no need to ask who eats the pies in the napoles family – will now not be congresswoman. At least one door closed. Next mar roxas will shut down… Read more »

Hindi naman po mutually exclusive ang pork queen at scapegoat diba? Both terms can be used to identify a single entity. “It’s funny that while Napoles is on the receiving end of a great amount of vilification, it doesn’t seem that enough people are training their guns on the elected and appointed officials who actually control the release of the pork barrel funds.” Oo nga po. Funny nga. Ganito na lang, ipasa na kasi ang FOI bill para magkalabasan ng ng kailangan ilabas. Kawawa naman si Mrs. Napoles. Kung may corruption man na mate-trace sa kanya — and I’m not… Read more »

Nearly 50% of the 2014 budget ( 1 Trillion pesos) is unaudited ‘presidential pork barrel’ – no doubt the war chest being built up for 2016.
Pnoy et al are having a laugh as they piss on the poor, and all the masa do is say thank you, no questions asked.